


Starry Eyed, No Sleep

by BellatrixTheStar



Category: Chronicles of Narnia - All Media Types
Genre: Gen, Stars, can't sleep, late night
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-09
Updated: 2020-10-17
Packaged: 2021-03-08 02:42:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,413
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26908327
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BellatrixTheStar/pseuds/BellatrixTheStar
Summary: Lucy can't sleep. Neither can Edmund. There's nothing better than chatting with your sibling in the dark under a star-filled sky. Probably a one-shot...I think...
Relationships: Edmund Pevensie & Lucy Pevensie
Kudos: 21





	1. Starry Eyed, No Sleep

Lucy's new bedroom did _not_ feel like hers.

The sheets weren't scratchy like the ones in the Professor's house, but they weren't like the sheets at home either. Lucy was sick of new sheets.

And there was no one to complain to either. No one to talk to, no one to hug, and no one to tell her that everything was okay. Everyone else had got different rooms and it wasn't _fair_. Lucy missed sleeping with Susan on the bed across from her. Susan snored, but…well, there was some comfort in knowing someone was _right there_ if Lucy needed it. Without her, things were lonely and scary and dark in a way it never seemed in the daylight. The shadows seemed bigger and the silence was terrifying. But it's not like she could really complain since Peter and Susan had _asked_ her if she wanted her own room and she had said yes because it had seemed so exciting and grown up and she was a _queen_ now. Being grown up didn't sound nearly so exciting in the dark.

She had tried to go to sleep, honestly, she had! But it just hadn't happened, and Lucy was left staring at the ceiling restlessly.

Lucy slipped out of her room, silently closing the door behind her as quietly as she could. She didn't want to wake anyone.

She wandered out into a silent Cair Paravel, grey and still in the night in a strange peaceful-lonely sort of way. At least it was less dark and lonely than her room. The full moon shone silvery bright from a window, leaving glimmering strips of light and shadow reaching into the corridor.

Lucy sighed, and it sounded loud in the silence.

The cold stone under her bare feet sent shivers down her arms and she started walking. She wasn't going anywhere in particular, she just wanted to _do_ something instead of just lying there in the dark.

A whisper of a breeze blew down the hall and Lucy tasted salt. Pausing, she tried to remember her way out to the balcony.

Down the hallway, cross this room, go around the feasting hall, up these stairs, down that corridor. Eventually, she made her way onto the balcony overlooking the Eastern Ocean.

Lucy caught her breath.

The moon shone strong and brilliant, but even its vast luminescence could not dull the lights scattering the night sky. Lucy could hardly bare to call them stars because they were _nothing_ like the stars from the other place. Even on the darkest nights, when the curfew had caused blackout curtains to be drawn and doorjambs stuffed into the smallest cracks, those stars had never seemed as breathtakingly beautiful as these. Not that Lucy was normally allowed outside on blackout nights anyway.

These stars were like gemstones on black velvet. Their glorious reflections touched the sea as it rose and fell, swelling gently and causing the starry host to dance merrily on the waters' surface.

Lucy was so caught up in the view (she was, in fact, gaping at the heavens as if she'd never seen them before in her life), that she hadn't noticed another person already standing at the edge of the balcony.

The silhouette shifted on its' feet, catching her eye, and Lucy suddenly felt like an intruder. She was about to duck back inside when the person spoke.

"The view's even better from here." He offered, and Lucy realised it was Edmund.

She cautiously approached, a little nervous and a little worried she was going to be scolded and sent back to bed.

"Hey," She said quietly, not wanting to destroy the peacefulness of the moment.

He said nothing, just gave her a quick smile and went back to drinking in the view.

Lucy waited for a moment, wondering if he was going to say something else. When he didn't, she decided to go back to appreciating the glorious heavens herself.

Thousands upon thousands of stars she could never hope to count, the moon a looming yet friendly presence, joining in with the revelry as the celestial sphere rotated imperceptibly causing the stars to rise and set in a circuitous dance. It was like glitter had been scattered across the skies. Another offshore breeze blew onto them, playing with Lucy's upbraided hair and brushing Edmund's cheeks.

"Can't sleep?" Ed suddenly asked, and Lucy startled, the whites of her eyes visible in the moonlight.

"Um, yes," She admitted, earlier worries about being sent back to bed resurfacing.

"Me neither," Edmund sighed.

"Really?"

"It's too quiet."

"I think so too!" Lucy said, excited that someone agreed with her, "I normally sleep with Susan but without her…" She trailed of, remembering that she was supposed to be quiet. Better not to wake Peter or Susan; they might send her to bed.

"I know what you mean," Ed said conspiratorially with a smile, "Peter tosses and turns but I miss him when he's not there."

"Susan snores!" Lucy giggled, sharing a grin with her brother. They lapsed into silence.

"Do you know any constellations?" Lucy suddenly asked. She was barely ever allowed out at night in the Other Place, but at the Professors' Peter had let them stay up late once. They had gone outside, and Peter had pointed out some of the star patterns Father had taught him. Peter called them constellations and there was a bear that looked like ladle, a lion that looked like a coat hanger and that one big star called…Lucy couldn't quite remember, but it meant that way was north.

"No, Father only got to show Peter on a camping trip once before Father enlisted. But I don't think these stars would be the same as _those_ stars anyway." Ed said thoughtfully.

"Oh,"

"We could always make our own?" Ed suggested tentatively.

"Oh yes!" Lu exclaimed, then repeated much softer, "Yes _please._ "

They stared very hard at the stars, trying to find a pattern they could turn into a constellation. It took much longer than either expected. Making up constellations was _hard_. Lucy found several pretty stars, but none of them looked like anything in particular.

Finally, Ed began slowly, "I _think_ I've found one-" he paused, and then added more certainly, "-yes, I think I have. Do you see up there?"

He pointed to a spot right above the coastline to their left.

"Do you see that big blueish one? Right above that giant rock?"

"I think so," Lu murmured, squinting a little.

"That's the eye, and see how there's three above it vertically in a line? Like a back and a tail." He waited for her confirmation before continuing, "And the two orangey ones coming out from the middle? They're the legs."

"I can see it!" Lu said with an excited smile, "What is it?"

"A leopard." Ed said proudly. *

"That's perfect, Ed," Lu said, still smiling brightly, "So, what's the story for it?"

"Story?"

"Peter's constellations always had a story," Lucy asserted, all matter of fact and leaving him no choice except to come up with something.

"Uh, well," He trailed off, "I guess I was inspired by that leopard, you know, the one who carried Aslan's banner?"

"You mean Por and Leo? There's two of them, not just one." Lucy giggled at her brother's lack of storytelling skill. **

"Ah," Ed said awkwardly, embarrassed he hadn't known there were two, and that he hadn't known their names.

"They're twins, so they look the same," Lucy offered, stifling her giggles when she saw the awkward look on her brother's face.

After a moment of silence, Ed spoke again, "Sorry my story wasn't better."

"It was fine. Maybe Por or Leo will have an adventure? Then there will be a story." Lucy said with a smile. "Also, I couldn't even _find_ a good pattern, so at least you found one."

"True," Ed said, smiling back.

They stared at the sky again, the heavens dancing in circles before their eyes to the slow music of Time itself. The moon had begun to set, and the stars gleamed ever brighter to compensate for his absence. The soft _swoosh-swoosh_ of the waves of the beach caught at their ears, and Lucy yawned, leaning against the railing.

Eventually, the two ended up sitting against the balusters, backs to the sea and the moon but with the stars still visible overhead beside the shadow of Cair Paravel. Edmund had noticed that Lu had drifted off half an hour ago, and he had meant to take her back to bed, but hadn't wanted to wake her and, well, he was getting tired himself.

Edmund had been thinking too much, his thoughts going in circles, like the stars.

 _A king?_ He had thought, _how could I be a king? I was a traitor, and now Aslan wants me to be a king? I'd be an awful king._ It was ludicrous. How could anyone trust him to be a king?

He had gone out onto the balcony overlooking the sea and every thought had flown when he saw the display of natural beauty before him. It hadn't been very long before he had spotted Lu behind him. Talking with her had reminded him that Aslan hadn't asked him to do it on his own. And she had reminded him that he was forgiven. If all that was true, who was he to question?

 _What great mercy, that He would not only give his life in my place, but to raise me up higher than I ever was before?_ He mused now, yawning hugely, _Great is Your love, higher than the heavens; it reaches past the starry skies ***_ He snorted softly, _waxing poetic now, am I? It must be getting late._

Edmund leaned back against the balustrades, watching Lu's head flop against his shoulder. Somewhere in between telling himself to go to bed and actually going there, he fell asleep. Head resting atop head, they leaned on each other as the stars spun ever onwards in their endless dance.


	2. The Leopard who Lights the Way Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Many years later...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Much gratitude to BrokenKestral for beta'ing this for me :) All remaining mistakes are mine and mine alone.

"Sire! Sire!" A little voice squeaked.

Peter looked down to see Twignut scamper through the patrol members, making her way to the front where Peter and Edmund were.

"Sire!" She exclaimed again, and the party paused, waiting for the small beast, "The Giants! They're behind us!"

"Are they fast approaching?" Edmund asked quickly, glancing behind them to confirm that the giants were not indeed upon them.

"No! No, they've set up an ambush between us and the camp! I overheard them talking!" Twignut hurriedly corrected.

"I supposed we'll just have to go back a different way," Peter said, his shoulders untensing a little and his hand moving away from the pommel of Rhindon.

"It didn't sound like they were planning to come after us!" Twignut enthusiastically agreed, bouncing on her toes.

"Perhaps not them, Twiggy, but the ones up ahead might." A voice came down from the sky as their forward scout Sorrowind descended onto a nearby rock.

"Don't call me that!" Twignut angrily shouted.

"What, Twiggy?" The hawk teased, "It's quite apt; your statute certainly compares to a twig."

"Why, you- you-!" Twignut cried, "Birdbrain! It's not like you're much-"

Sorrowind interrupted with a hawk's cry and responded, "Birdbrain! That's a compliment, you _wish_ you had a bird's brain-!"

But he in turn was also cut off, Twignut yelling her own comeback until the rocky hills rang with a mess of squeaking and squawking.

"Enough!" Peter's deep voice cut through the argument neatly and brought about an abrupt and sheepish silence. "With the noise you two were making, I wouldn't be surprised if the Marshwiggles had heard us in the Northern Marshes. Now, Sorrowind, you said something about Giants ahead of us?"

"Yes sire, sorry. There are a group of giants ahead planning to ambush us when we go over the Bridge. They have five on one side and five towering behind some rocks on our side. They planned to catch us in the middle," Sorrowind said quickly.

"Well, there goes our plan to scout their camp," Edmund muttered from beside him.

"And we can't send Sorrowind because the birdbrain refused to brave a few flying rocks!" Twignut huffed, sending an expression of contempt over her shoulder to her winged compatriot.

"Who knew giants could be so devious?" Beruna said, cutting off the inevitable argument. The beaver had approached unnoticed from behind them and overheard Sorrowind's report.

"You would be surprised," Por said, and suddenly what had been an ordered line had become a huddle because there was Leo too, coming up behind his twin to complete the circle.

"It does seem a little more-" Edmund paused, looking for the right word, "- _organised_ than their usual plans. What do you think, Peter?"

"I'm not sure that matters right now. I think we need to find a way back to camp. I don't want to be caught in enemy territory once the sun's gone down," Peter said decisively.

The others began discussing options, which for Twignut and Sorrowind meant returning to squabbling, but for Edmund, the twins, and Beruna, there was a calm exchange of ideas.

Peter looked at the sky. It was overcast, as it always seemed to be in Ettinsmoor, but he could tell it was getting late. The small patrol had set off a few hours past noon and had been walking for some time, intending to scout the enemy camp and return just after sunset but it had taken longer than expected. By the time they had even discovered the camps location – just beyond the Giant's Bridge – the day had been drawing to a close.

"Where exactly is the group behind us?" Peter asked Twignut.

"They're not even trying to hide, Sire. The group of nine is directly in between us and the Camp. They talked about attacking the camp itself, but there were too few of them and they didn't want to fight Oerius' group," Twignut explained, shifting her weight from one side to the other impatiently.

"Hold still, Twiggy, you're giving me a headache," Sorrowind muttered at the small squirrel.

"I _told_ you not to call me that!" She hissed, glaring at her friend.

"There's no way to avoid them seeing us," Edmund said, ignoring the incorrigible pair, "the Moor can be flatter than the Eastern Ocean on a windless day."

"I know," Peter said shortly, rubbing his chin, which was manfully adorned with the beginnings of a beard. Susan would have him get rid of it as soon as they came home, but until then, it was an opportunity Peter would not let go to waste.

"And there's no point going forwards if we know we can't go back." Edmund continued, looking at Peter when he didn't respond. "Peter."

"Yes." He said, looking up from the rock he'd been staring at to shoot Edmund a look, "I _know_." _We don't have the numbers to beat them and we can't avoid them. Unless…_

"Then what are we going to do, Pete?" Ed said, exasperated.

The party had been fairly small to begin with, only consisting of the two monarchs, Twignut, Sorrowind, Beruna and the twins, Por and Leo. None were very large or obtrusive and all could be quiet…except perhaps Twignut and Sorrowind when put together. The idea filled itself out, expanded, and took shape like molten metal into the molds of a dwarven forge.

"Sorrowind, I'm going to need you to fly back to camp and tell Oreius we'll come back later than expected, but hopefully before moonrise tonight. He shouldn't worry or send out any search parties. Try not to be seen," Peter said, and the hawk bobbed his head and took off.

"Twignut, can you find us a good place for us to settle until dark? As hidden as you can," He continued, turning to the squirrel as soon as Sorrowind was gone.

"Yes, High King Peter!" She squeaked and scampered away over the rocks.

"Pete, what are you up to?" Edmund asked, eyebrows raised.

He turned to his brother and let himself smile a little, "I'm not sure it's a scheme worthy of your deviousness, but it should do nicely to get us back to camp in one piece, Aslan willing."

"Are you going to quit gloating and explain it or not?" Edmund smirked, confident in his brother's plan, even before it was revealed.

<>(+)<>

They couldn't light a fire.

This was a fact that particularly bothered Edmund because it was getting later and later, and he hadn't had dinner. None of them had. Nobody had thought to bring provisions because nobody had expected this little expedition to be anything more than a short scouting mission. _But expectations were made to be disappointed,_ Edmund thought dispassionately.

As the stars replaced the fast fading sunlight, the heavy cloud cover seemed to dissipate, revealing those sharply glinting pinpricks with startling clarity.

Waiting for complete darkness was boring, but at least he had a view, Edmund reflected. And it would be good to get some rest before they attempted to sneak across the moors under the cloak of night. It had seemed like a decent plan in the daylight, but now he was hungry, impatient, and _cold_ , with nothing else to think about. This, of course, made him feel even hungrier, colder, and more impatient.

Edmund decided to try and pass the time by lying flat on his back to stargaze.

"Say what you like about the locals, but even the view at Cair has a hard time comparing to this." Beruna sighed, lying on her back beside Edmund.

"I don't know," he replied, waking visions of Susan and Lucy drifting across his eyes, "Home has its own charms. Don't you miss your parents? I remember Mr Beaver being particularly distraught when you decided to join this campaign."

"Da is too anxious sometimes," the beaver sighed, "he reckons I'm going to die dramatically, killed by giants and turned into a hat probably, and then get a constellation named after me as a warning to wayward kits. I told him that doesn't happen anymore, but he wouldn't listen."

"What? Getting turned into a hat, or a constellation?" Edmund chuckled, still gazing at the starry host.

"Ha!" the beaver snorted, "the constellation thing I suppose."

"I don't know-" Edmund began, eyes catching a familiar shape rising in the south-east.

"Really? Have _you_ ever heard of anyone who's been constellised?" Beruna said sceptically, rolling over to face him. She was quite bad at formalities and always spoke her mind, which Ed had often appreciated.

"Uh…" Edmund trailed off, glancing with uncertainty at the two leopards who were chatting to Peter on the other side of their makeshift hiding place. A freezing wind blew through their rocky outcropping and Edmund shivered, wishing for his cloak, which was conveniently sitting in his tent back at the Camp.

"Come on then," Beruna pushed, "I can tell you know something, so just spit it out."

"Well," Edmund began reluctantly, but just at that moment, he was saved from embarrassment by Peter who came over with the Leopards.

"Ed, we should probably get going before the moon rises," Peter said, and Ed couldn't make out his expression in the dark.

<>(+)<>

The small party set out from their hiding spot, but it wasn't long before they stopped again.

"Ed, take off your mail; it's making too much noise," Peter whispered, beginning to take off his own.

"And put it where?" Edmund argued softly, "We don't have anything to carry it in."

"Ah, good point," Peter said, and embarrassed, shrugged his chain mail shirt back over his shoulders.

"Also, I thought Camp was that way," Edmund said, gesturing to his right.

"That's what I thought too," Twignut chimed in from beside his ear, on his shoulder. Poor Twignut couldn't see very well in the dark and had decided to remain close by the Sons of Adam for this journey.

"No," Peter disagreed, "I'm fairly certain the Camp is straight ahead."

"But doesn't that mean the giants are straight ahead?" Edmund said, fighting rising panic, "Twignut said they were directly between us and the Camp, right?"

"That's what I said," Twignut chittered uncertainly, "but they might've moved since then."

"But we went west a little way to find our hiding spot, so wouldn't that mean we need to go that way to get to camp?" Beruna reasoned, probably gesturing too from her place in the sea of black.

"Does anyone remember any landmarks?" Peter said, and Edmund could tell that the calm infused in his voice was false. He was obviously panicking just as much as Edmund.

"Not that I can see right now," Por said from the front, "I remember that the Bridge was directly behind our hiding spot, but-"

"-we lost track of our direction in relation to it when we moved. However, we know this is not the way we came," Leo finished from the back. Out of them, the twins were the ones who could best see in the dark and so they had been chosen to be the front and rear guard for this expedition, which was quickly falling apart.

"If the Bridge is north, and the camp is south-east from that-" Beruna began.

"-and the giants are directly in between," Edmund added.

"Then we should go east or west around them, and then, and then…" He trailed off, knowing they would not be able to accurately accomplish this without a map, daylight, and a few recognisable landmarks.

Edmund sighed.

Then he paused.

"Wait. Did someone say the Camp is south-east?" He asked quickly.

"Yes, because the Bridge is north and so the Camp-" Beruna began again, but Edmund interrupted him.

"The Leopard rises in the south-east at this time of year!" He exclaimed, then remembered to quieten down.

"The what?" Peter asked, and Edmund could tell the twin's ears were pricked and curious.

 _So much for saving myself from embarrassment_ , he thought to himself, but forged ahead.

"The Leopard. A constellation."

"I've never heard of it," Came Leo's voice from behind him, and Edmund winced.

"Ah, well," Edmund floundered, "We made it up, I mean, _I_ made it up, and Lucy was there."

"You created a leopard constellation with Queen Lucy?" Por asked curiously, softly padding closer.

"Uh, well, yes."

"Why a leopard?" Beruna asked and Edmund felt like sighing. _Why, oh why did she have to ask_ that _question, of all questions?_

"Never mind all that," Peter interrupted, saving him again from embarrassment, "Where is it?"

Edmund gratefully turned his attention to the star-filled skies, searching for the familiar shape that had caught his attention earlier. _Oh Leopard, where are you?_

He quickly found the four stars that ran the constellation's length from head to tail, and after that, it was easy to pinpoint the two orange stars that represented the legs.

"There!" He pointed to the constellation, and everyone turned to squint at it.

"It doesn't look much like a leopard to me," Leo commented with what Edmund thought was much more amusement than was warranted. Especially since the constellation was saving them from a cold night of directionless wandering on the Moors.

"I was ten! I'm seventeen now; it was a long time ago!" Edmund defended louder than he ought, and the _thump_ of a heavy footstep far away to their right made them all freeze, barely daring to breathe.

After a few tense moments of staring into the complete darkness of the Moors, they slowly, _slowly_ relaxed.

Peter gestured for Edmund to lead the way, so he cautiously made his way to the front with Por, eyes fixed on the celestial Leopard to mark the way. They would just have to follow it and pray it didn't lead towards the Giants.

Everyone kept their ears (and eyes, in some cases) straining for any signs of giants but Aslan must have guarded their steps because the party didn't run into any. Unfortunately, there was no such protection from the cold. Beruna and the Twins were fine due to their coats of fur, but the Sons of Adam and Twignut were hunching and shivering with every icy gust.

By the time the Twin's keen eyes had spotted the campfires of the Narnian encampment, both the boys' teeth were chattering and Twignut had huddled into the crook of Edmund's stiff arms. Another gusting wind swept across the Moors and Edmund shuddered. He _hated_ the cold, but they kept moving forward, trying to avoid stumbling on any of the larger rocks that littered the landscape. Unfortunately, it was all the brothers could do to focus on putting one foot in front of the other, and, of course, Edmund had to keep glancing at the sky to keep them going in the right direction. His neck was beginning to truly ache.

Finally, they entered the Camp to the sight of warm torchlight and good friends, leaving the dark and desolate Moors behind them.

The soldier on watch was waiting for them and they were given a message from Oreius: go to the Command Tent. All to be expected, since they _were_ late, but still.

"Always doing, never done," Edmund muttered tiredly as the patrol made their exhausted way through the Camp to the Command Tent.

"Are you talking to me, or just voicing a painfully obvious truth?" Peter said, giving him a sideways look.

"I believe it's called commiserating."

"So, was that what you were talking about?" Beruna interrupted, voicing a question she had not been able to ask on the silent, windswept moors.

"What?"

"The Leopard. Was it someone you knew?" she asked, sounding tired and blunt.

"Uh, yes, I mean, no. Lucy said there had to be a story behind the constellation, and I was inspired by Por and Leo, so…" He trailed off tiredly, beyond caring if the Twins heard him.

"Really? But there's only one Leopard, and there's two of us." Por interjected.

"By the Lion's Mane! I was _ten_ , I did a lot of things I regretted when I was ten!" Edmund exclaimed irritably, tired of his constellation being criticised.

Peter chuckled wearily from beside him, "While that may be true, I don't think you should regret creating that constellation; it might just have saved all our lives."

After a long moment, Beruna smiled, as much as a beaver can smile, and said, "Now you'll have a story to tell Lucy when you go home. The Leopard who Lights the Way Home."

"I suppose I will," Edmund smiled.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Surprise! I guess it was a two-shot :)
> 
> Anyway, thanks again to BrokenKestral for letting me use her OCs Por and Leo :) All remaining characters are either mine own, or C.S. Lewis'.
> 
> Trix

**Author's Note:**

> * A constellation mentioned in Prince Caspian
> 
> **Thanks to BrokenKesteral for letting me use her characters! They come from her story called Loyalty on FF.net, so please check it out!
> 
> ***Adapted from Psalm 108:4
> 
> -Author's Note-
> 
> Haha, so the title lied to you! They did go to sleep!
> 
> I tried to line up the actual constellations Lucy listed to something you'd see at the same time of year in the Northern Hemisphere (Ursa Major, Leo and Polaris), but as you probably know, I'm a Southern Hemisphere resident, so no guarantees that I'm right. Any fellow aspiring stargazers will have to let me know!
> 
> Anyway, I was inspired by a conversation between BrokenKestral and myself about Narnian constellations. She reminded me that Lucy had mentioned three in Prince Caspian (The Leopard, the Ship and...fiddlesticks. Forgot what the last one was). So credit to her for the idea!
> 
> And yes, I know I should be writing Illusionist, but I technically didn't have time to write this, it's just that I suddenly had the desire to not do my work (that wasn't the sudden part obviously) and write this months old prompt. I'll get right back on to writing things I'd planned and supposed to write as soon as possible :)
> 
> Have a happy week!
> 
> Trix


End file.
